Lake sat on his bed as he rubbed his temples with a wry smile on his face.
’How the hell did I forget about that damned reporter...’
[Alec: A reporter said he recorded so footage of you during the sea serpent raid. He wants to ask for your permission to put it up on his blog.]
Reading the ssage again, Lake couldn’t help but sigh.
During the sea serpent raid, he had completely forgotten about the existence of the seemingly fated reporter, Leon.
’I could’ve sworn I put tracking magic on him. How the hell did he get so close without knowing?’ Lake’s head was starting to hurt just thinking about it, but he was able to calm down and think logically again after a few monts.
Since he couldn’t figure it out, no matter how hard he thought, he decided to just read through the Web of Fate to figure it out. After finding Leon’s cara-shaped fate, Lake took a glance at what he was up to during the raid.
However, as Lake read through Leon’s fate, his eyes couldn’t help but widen.
"What the..." Looking at the events playing out in real ti through Leon’s fate, Lake got shivers up his spine.
’What the hell is going on?! How the hell is he avoiding my detection range so precisely?!’
Through Leon’s fate, Lake saw him hover around the edge of his detection spell’s range, perfectly avoiding activating the spell while recording everything that went on.
Whenever Lake moved, Leon would seemingly move ahead of ti so that he wouldn’t be in range of the spell, allowing him to record the whole fight from start to finish without once alerting Lake.
Seeing his precise and almost clairvoyant movent left Lake both puzzled and panicked. For the first ti in his life, Lake thought he felt genuine fear when he saw Leon’s moves.
Lake felt his heart beating rapidly out of his chest, and the ti between each breath shortened. Knowing that he couldn’t allow this to continue, he took a few deep breaths and eventually managed to calm down.
’Let’s think about this logically. Unless that reporter can see the future, he shouldn’t have been able to perfectly predict my movents.’ Thinking of this, Lake read through the entirety of Leon’s fate from the day he was born to the present and was able to confirm that this wasn’t the case.
"If he can’t see the future, then how the hell did he predict my movents?" Lake’s thoughts beca more confused the more he thought about it. That was until he took another look at Leon’s fate.
Seeing that unique cara-shaped fate which lens’ was constantly flashing as if a picture was being taken or a film being recorded, Lake suddenly had a terrifying thought.
"It couldn’t be... Did he do it on instinct..?" As Lake spoke, he felt another shiver crawl up his spine.
If Leon had truly reacted purely on instinct, guided by his cara’s lens and gut feeling to capture the perfect angle while completely avoiding his detection magic, then Leon would not only be the most talented caraman in existence but also the nightmare of all celebrities.
Lake couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air at this thought. Just think of all the chaos Leon could cause if he got his hands on so sensitive footage and uploaded it to the internet. The results would be devastating.
Lake sat in thought for a while as he contemplated what to do. He didn’t need to think long before sending a reply to Alec.
[He can upload the video, but on one condition. He has to et first.]
After sending the ssage, Lake finally got out of bed and stretched lazily.
"If you can’t beat him, might as well join him," Lake murmured to himself, a small smile slowly creeping up on his face.
****
Lake entered the classroom a few minutes before class. He had spent an hour that morning practicing his Steel Body Martial Art, despite not using it much after maxing it out. The skill couldn’t raise his stats any higher, but it did help loosen up his joints and energize his body, allowing him to maintain his overall fitness.
As Lake walked to his seat, he imdiately noticed everyone’s strange gazes. He could already hear bits and pieces of his na being whispered, causing him to sigh. He quickly took a seat and started to observe everyone’s fate to figure out what was going on.
Thankfully, it didn’t take him long to figure it out.
"...Today’s just full of surprises, isn’t it?" Lake felt his eyelids twitch for the second ti that day.
After reading through their fates, Lake found the reason for everyone’s strange behavior. Yesterday’s interaction between him and Sylph had been recorded by a nearby student and spread throughout the school.
Normally, this wouldn’t bother Lake at all, since he was just trying to comfort Sylph. However, it seems the video had been taken out of context and spread carelessly, sparking a very annoying rumor.
Keeping his head down, Lake relied on his superior hearing to listen in on so conversations between his classmates. They were all speaking in whispers and occasionally glancing towards him.
He first listened to the group of boys closest to him.
"Sob...It can’t be true..."
"It must be his looks..."
"Hah...That’s just the way of the world..."
"I don’t want to live in such a world."
"...."
Aside from the occasional depressing murmurs, Lake wasn’t able to discern much from them, so he turned to a group of girls who were chatting quietly.
"So, what do you girls think?"
"It has to be true, right?"
"Kyaa! This is like straight out of a fairy tale!"
"Shhh! Be quiet. We don’t want to alert him."
"Hehe, my bad."
The girls’ chatter left him feeling slightly irritated for so reason. He was about to stop listening when one of the girls said sothing that caught his attention.
"...Do you really think they’ll do it?"
"What do you an? Despite his nature, he’s still a guy, and isn’t Sylph just too adorable? If he doesn’t, I’ll have to question his manhood."
"Wow, I wonder what the baby would be-"
BANG!
A loud noise suddenly rang out, causing everyone to jump in their seats. Turning to the source, they saw Lake, who had suddenly stood up with both palms planted firmly on the desk.
"Hah...hah." Lake was hyperventilating, feeling cold sweat running down his back.
While listening to the girls’ conversation, he couldn’t help but imagine their words, painting a vivid picture in his mind that left him in his current state.
’No. NO! Absolutely not! I refuse! Get out of my head!’ Lake was trying his best to forget what he had just envisioned.
If this morning could be described as the first ti he felt fear, then this mont would be the first ti he felt terror.
’What the hell is wrong with today?!’ Lake grasped his chest as he tried to calm his breathing.
After taking a few deep breaths, he sohow managed to calm down.
’That’s right. It’s not like today could get any worse-’
Beep!
Before Lake could finish his thought, he heard his wristwatch beep with a notification. However, it wasn’t just his wristwatch; everyone else turned to read the ssage on their devices.
Feeling a bad premonition, Lake opened the ssage and read it slowly. As he read the last line, his face beca serene and peaceful, as if he had gained enlightennt and nothing in this world could affect him anymore.
However, if one were to look into his eyes, they could feel the silent fury building within him.
"You’ve got to be kidding ..." Lake felt his eyelid twitch for the third ti that day.
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